The following is an encounter that took place between Charles Bennison,
Bishop of Pennsylvania and former Church of England PEV Bishop Edwin
Barnes inside the headquarters of the Diocese of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia recently.

An Exclusive Report

By David W. Virtue

PHILADELPHIA, PA--On a recent visit to Philadelphia as the Provincial
Episcopal Visitor (flying bishop), one of three recognized in the Church
of England, Bishop Edwin Barnes accompanied by Mr. David Rawson, Forward
in Faith chancellor and attorney, paid a social call on Pennsylvania
Bishop Charles E. Bennison. Bishop Barnes was in the U.S. as a former
PEV and he informed the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Barnes
accompanied Central Africa Primate, Archbishop Bernard Malango on an
ecclesiastical visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont in a
suburb of Philadelphia.

Bishop Barnes and Mr. Rawson made the unscheduled visit following a
sight-seeing tour of Philadelphia's historic district.

The following account actually took place in the office of Bishop
Bennison.

Both men entered the building and asked if the bishop was in and told
the secretary that Bishop Barnes from England would like to pay him a
call.

On short notice, Bishop Bennison agreed to see them and they were
escorted upstairs to Bennison's private conference room.

Upon meeting the two men and before any pleasantries were exchanged,
Bennison said, "What are you doing invading my diocese?"

Barnes: "I am not subject to your canons and neither is Archbishop
Malango." (NOTE: Primate Malango was making a canonical visit to one of
his parish priests Fr. David L. Moyer at Church of the Good Shepherd in
Rosemont, PA, in a suburb of Philadelphia.)

Bennison: "I thought there was an understanding among Anglican bishops
that they would respect each others rules."

Barnes: "That's a strange comment from a man who has ignored the 1998
Lambeth Resolution, the Oct. 2003 letter from the Primates and the
teachings of the church."

Bennison...nearing the end of his rope replies, "I'm the bishop of this
diocese and you are trespassing on my turf."

Barnes: "Many people would question whether you are the bishop of this
diocese, considering that you are not only a heretic and an apostate but
you even obtained your episcopate fraudulently by lying to the
conservative parishes."

(Canon Michael Green Oxford theologian and advisor on evangelism to two
Archbishops of Canterbury declared the see of Pennsylvania vacant.)